GREENEVILLE – Tusculum University has promoted five faculty members who have distinguished themselves in their service to their students, the higher education institution and their profession.
Dr. Scott Hummel
The Board of Trustees has approved the change in rank for the following faculty members:
- Dr. Anne Acker – from associate professor of English to professor of English
- Angelo Botta – from assistant professor of physical education and sport science to associate professor of physical education and sport science
- Dr. Susan Monteleone – from associate professor of biology to professor of biology
- Dr. Kate Smith – from associate professor of psychology to professor of psychology
- Kelsey Trom – from associate professor of English to professor of English
“We are proud of the outstanding performance by these faculty members to equip our students to be career-ready professionals,” said Dr. Scott Hummel, Tusculum’s president. “They are experts in their fields who work one-on-one with their students in a caring Christian environment and provide valuable mentorship. These promotions are well-earned, and we are excited these faculty members will continue to serve our students and represent the university.”
Angelo Botta
Dr. Anne Acker
Dr. Acker has served as a full-time faculty member since 2009 and was an adjunct faculty member beforehand. She is the English program coordinator, faculty advisor to the English Student Organization and a member of the Faculty Affairs Committee. She previously served on the General Education Committee for four years, including as vice chair. She has a bachelor’s degree from Milligan University, a master’s from East Tennessee State University and a doctorate from the University of Tennessee, all in English.
Botta, a Tusculum alumnus, has served on the university’s faculty since 2012. Before that, he taught and held leadership positions in schools in Greene County, as well as in Kentucky and New Jersey. He was the head women’s basketball coach at Tusculum for six years and as an assistant coach on the women’s basketball teams at ETSU and Eastern Kentucky University and coached on the elementary and high school levels. He is president of Tusculum’s Alumni Executive Board. He received his bachelor’s in physical education and health from Tusculum and a master’s in physical education and driver’s education from ETSU.
Dr. Monteleone has served as a Tusculum faculty member since 2017 and teaches in the environmental science program. Her prior research includes ecological studies in Marshall Forest in Rome, Georgia, one of the few remaining urban old growth forests in the United States. In 2024, she earned a fellowship for a post-doctoral research project to study the yellow marsh marigold, an at-risk flower species. She was awarded a grant in 2016 from Beta Beta Beta, a national biology honor society, to fund and encourage student participation in undergraduate research. She was instrumental in establishing the Kappa Delta Eta chapter of Beta Beta Beta at Tusculum in 2022.
Kelsey Trom
Dr. Kate Smith
Dr. Susan Monteleone
Dr. Smith has been a Tusculum faculty member since 2012 and was previously an editor for American Journal Experts. She engaged in research for much of her academic studies and has incorporated it in the courses she has taught at Tusculum. She serves on Tusculum’s Institutional Review Board and was previously its chair, and she is also co-chair of the university’s annual Academic Symposium, in which students present their research. She has been part of the team in 24 publications and received the Service Leadership Award from Tusculum’s College of Science, Technology and Mathematics in 2024. She earned her bachelor’s in psychology from ETSU and her master’s and doctorate in experimental psychology from the University of Kentucky.
Trom has served on the Tusculum faculty since 2014 and is the Harriett Reaves Neff ’21 Chair of Fine Arts. She previously taught as an adjunct professor at other higher education institutions. For the last six years, she has been the editor of “The Tusculum Review,” the university’s international literary journal, and the publication’s fiction editor. She has also served as the creative writing program coordinator since 2019. She serves on the General Education Committee and was faculty vice chair for four years. Trom holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Virginia and Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University.
“These faculty members play vital roles in the preparation of our students for the next phase of their lives,” said Dr. David Cook, provost and vice president of academic affairs. “They help our students develop their God-given talents and are instrumental in Tusculum’s standing as an outstanding higher education institution. Our students are in good hands when they take courses from these faculty members.”
More information about the university is available at www.tusculum.edu.